by Lela Nargi ; illustrated by Anne Hunter ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 11, 2025
An effective and moving meditation on grief and hope.
A Canada goose experiences love, loss, and, once more, joy.
A male goose courts a female. The two become inseparable, making a nest, raising goslings, migrating with their flock, and returning again and again to the same spot to rear their young over the years. But one day, the male goose starts to fade. He dies, and his mate remains behind, alone, when the rest of the flock flies south for the winter. As the seasons pass, she slowly starts to engage with the world again and finds a new and different chance at love. Realistic illustrations and simple yet elegant text keep the story grounded. Rooting her work in the everyday habits and behavior of Canada geese, Nargi never anthropomorphizes or veers toward the overly sentimental; the female goose’s emotions feel well earned. Though the death of the male is understated, it rings especially true, as do the portrayals of the female waiting and watching other animals returning in the spring. Nargi and Hunter offer a gentle but genuine depiction of loss and recovery. Wrapping up with backmatter containing further information on Canada geese, this is a clear, engaging, and empathetic introduction to these animals.
An effective and moving meditation on grief and hope. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780593647554
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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by Aaron Reynolds ; illustrated by Peter Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 22, 2017
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
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Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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by Aaron Reynolds ; illustrated by Peter Brown
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by Daymond John ; illustrated by Nicole Miles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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